Automobile doors require weatherstripping for various purposes, including noise reduction and temperature control. Materials, such as foam and dense rubber and the like, are often used to seal the connection between the car door and the car body. A carrier device, such as a metal support, is commonly used to assist in mounting such weatherstripping materials to the car door and door frame.
Carriers used to support weatherstripping materials often include cutouts and various geometries which are then formed and used within the weatherstrip. Such geometries can provide for material and cost savings and assist in forming the carrier to the desired configuration to hold the weatherstripping materials in place.
Such weatherstripping material carriers are commonly manufactured through a lancing process. During the process, openings and cutouts are made by lancing the material at specified locations to form features, such as tines and gaps in the carrier material then stretched to create the desired geometry.
The lancing process, however, presents several drawbacks. For example, lancing can be less precise than other metal forming methods. Further, lancing weakens and stretches the metal at points where the metal is lanced. FIG. 1 illustrates a lanced metal carrier 10. As shown, the corners and edges 12 of the material are stretched and otherwise deformed during the lancing process, thereby weakening the material. In addition, the stretching and deforming of the material causes natural micro-fractures that further weaken the carrier material.
Therefore, an improved design and process for manufacturing a carrier for weatherstripping is needed.